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GOP Rivals Gear Up for Debate Showdown; Hillary Clinton on Her Enemies, the GOP; Louisiana D.A. Vows Detailed Investigation on 6- year-old's Death; More Walkouts Planned on Mizzou Campus; Funeral for Murdered 9-year-old Today; Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired November 10, 2015 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[10:00:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Our correspondent Sunlen Serfaty. She is in the city of Milwaukee. Good morning.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Yes, the Jeb Bush campaign really trying to send their candidate on to the debate stage tonight with a little boost of extra energy. They have released this morning a new Web video, it's entitled "Game Day" and it shows a lot of images of Jeb Bush smiling, taking selfies with supporters, even running through the streets with the Marines.

The intended message of this new Web video really is to send a message what Jeb Bush himself has really struggled with communicating. That he is joyful and happy candidate out there on the campaign trail. Here's a little bit of that Web ad now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: You vetoed $2 billion in spending, you cut taxes by $19 billion, you ended affirmative action, pro-life, you gave the country its first school voucher program when you were governor. 1.3 million jobs, 4.4 percent growth, eight balanced budgets. That is a conservative record.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was a reform-minded conservative. I did cut taxes every year. I balanced budgets every year. When I left there were $9 billion in reserves. We reduced the state government workforce by 13,000.

The one thing that Barack Obama --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: The stakes are certainly high for Jeb Bush here tonight. He needs to have a strong debate performance. Since the last debate, his campaign has hired a media trainer for him to become more comfortable, they say, up there on the debate stage, to be more assertive, to be more boisterous up there. Jeb Bush himself has talked about his mindset going into tonight saying that he's not going to think of it so much as a debate, but more think of it as a chance to communicate his ideas and his policies. But it will certainly be interesting to see the change potentially in him tonight -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Sunlen Serfaty, reporting live from Milwaukee. Thank you.

With me now to talk about all of this, former Michigan governor and Clinton supporter, Jennifer Granholm. Welcome.

JENNIFER GRANHOLM (D), FORMER MICHIGAN GOVERNOR: Thanks, Carol. Glad to be on.

COSTELLO: I'm glad --

GRANHOLM: It's a big night.

COSTELLO: I can't wait to watch. I think it will be fascinating.

GRANHOLM: I know. You are a nerd about this. I know you are. I love it.

COSTELLO: I am such a nerd. OK. So you just saw Jeb Bush's new campaign ad. What did you think?

GRANHOLM: Well, poor Jeb. I mean, they tell everybody he's got a media trainer. He's got to put out an ad saying what fun he's having on the debate, I mean, not on the debate, on the campaign. I mean, really, the poor guy. No question that he's got the biggest -- you know, the biggest burden tonight because he has really got to demonstrate that he's got game. And, you know, if he comes in, in an inauthentic way, like, you know, doing stuff he wouldn't normally do, it's a really tight balance. I'll be curious to see how he manages.

COSTELLO: I know that you portrayed Sarah Palin in a faux debate years ago, right, so you kind of know the scene there.

GRANHOLM: You betcha you.

COSTELLO: So Jeb Bush has hired this debate coach. What do you think that coach told him to do?

GRANHOLM: Well, I have no idea because really you cannot be something that you're not, right? You have to be authentic. People are so smart about that. I think he's got to come in demonstrating the kind of natural fight that he has. But also, I mean, his record for conservatives, he's going to trump at that and I think he's going to poke. But he's got to be careful about poking too much because if he said some really nice things about, like, for example, Marco Rubio in the past, as that ad -- another ad showed, it's going to be a little tough for him.

What I'm really interested in, Carol, in this whole thing is the role of the moderators. What are they going to do to keep these candidates on the substance because all of these tax plans, for example -- it's a business debate, right? So they're going to be talking about the economy and they're going to be talking about their tax plans. Well, all of these analyses that have come out demonstrate the Republican tax plans are between $3 trillion and $11 trillion they cost.

And so the question is going to be for the moderators. How are you going to get them to explain how they're going to pay for all of these tax cuts for the wealthy while still keeping Medicare intact, for example?

COSTELLO: Are you -- are you suggesting, Jennifer, that the candidates might deflect and begin attacking one another with sort of gotcha moments?

GRANHOLM: I'm shocked that there's gambling in here. Yes. I am suggesting that. But this is why the role of the moderator in this particular debate, especially after the CNBC debate, the role of the moderator is going to be really interesting. And here's another question that I'll be interested to see, what are they going to say -- I mean, we just had this great jobs report this week, right?

So under Barack Obama 7.5 million net jobs were created. Under George Bush, two million. Under Barack Obama, 61 months of job creation. He's cut the unemployment rate in half. What are they going to say that they would do to accelerate that? What are they going to say that they would do to create middle class jobs in America in a global economy when we know that the same old trickle down stuff won't work.

COSTELLO: I know -- I know what I would say because wages are high enough.

GRANHOLM: What would you say?

COSTELLO: The middle class is struggling and I would come up with a plan to raise middle class wages because that's what --

(CROSSTALK)

[10:05:03] GRANHOLM: OK. What would that be? I totally agree. What are they going to say that they would do to create middle class wages when all of them, for example, are against raising the minimum wage, they're all against equal pay, they all say they believe in laissez- faire, hands off, when our other economic competitors, other countries are very active. I don't know what policies they're going to put out there that will actually create middle class jobs in America in a global economy.

COSTELLO: Tax breaks for businesses. Tax breaks --

GRANHOLM: OK.

COSTELLO: If you make it easier on employers, they'll be able to pay employees more and hire more workers.

GRANHOLM: OK. So great. I think that's an important thing for them to say but that's not the only thing that is going to create middle class jobs in America. We have seen that trickle down alone does not work. Especially when our economic competitors have much lower tax rates potentially than we do. We've got to have not big government but active government in partnering with business.

And I want to hear exactly what they're going to say about that, how they respond to the president. And by the way, all of these guys have, like, said we're not going to do -- you know, we're not going to make significant investments in people or infrastructure. At least they haven't said how they're going to pay for it. So I'm really interested in those who want to balance the budget, how are they going to cut all these taxes, the estate tax, capital gains tax and still balance the budget.

COSTELLO: OK. So, a question. And I want you to try to remove yourself from being a Democrat and a Hillary Clinton supporter, although I know that's very --

GRANHOLM: So hard.

COSTELLO: I know.

GRANHOLM: It's so hard. So hard.

COSTELLO: I know it's difficult. It's like a wound, I know, for you.

(LAUGHTER)

GRANHOLM: It's not a wound.

COSTELLO: I mean to, like, distance yourself from that just for a moment.

GRANHOLM: Oh, OK.

COSTELLO: OK. So what candidate on stage, because there are governors on stage, right? There are senators on stage, there are businessmen on stage. Which man or woman has the best qualities to grow our economy?

GRANHOLM: Honestly, I'm going to try to remove my --

COSTELLO: Just between senator, governor, business person.

GRANHOLM: Oh, I think, you know, I mean, a governor, of course. I have a bias because I'm a governor, I'm a former governor. So, you know, they've done stuff, so I agree with that sort of analysis. But truly the stuff they're putting out, it's all the same. How do they distinguish themselves? They're all anti-science, they're all trickle down, tax cuts for the wealthy. It's all the same. Anti-immigrant. When by the way, having an immigration policy would help the economy.

I don't know -- despite the fact that some of them are governors and some of them probably are real pragmatic people, they've got to appeal to a base that is so extreme that what they are putting out there will not help the economy but, in fact, will hurt it.

COSTELLO: All right. I don't think you distanced yourself but thank you for answering the question.

GRANHOLM: Shoot.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Jennifer Granholm, I appreciate it. A quick note for our viewers, after the debate make sure to watch CNN

for a special wrap-up hosted by Anderson Cooper. He'll tackle the issues that dominated the discussion and fact-check the candidates. All of that kicks off right here 11:00 p.m. Eastern.

For her part Hillary Clinton seems to be softening her stance on her Republican rivals. Remember this remark about her political enemies from last month's Democratic debate?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Which enemy are you most proud of?

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, in addition to the NRA, the health insurance companies, the drug companies, the Iranians, probably the Republicans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All righty. So fast forward to this week in a campaign swing in New Hampshire and Clinton says she's actually ready to work with the GOP if she were to be elected.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny joins me now from Derby, New Hampshire, to tell us more. Good morning.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. I mean, that comment from Secretary Hillary Clinton at our first debate just a month ago certainly resonated with Democrats. They thought it showed that she is a fighter. But I can tell you it is still reverberating here among voters.

There was a very interesting exchange at a town meeting here in New Hampshire. A woman stood up and said she had been a strong supporter of Hillary Clinton going back way to 1992. She was a big defender of the Clintons but she said she was troubled by this remark. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question to you is, for the first time in all of the times I've listened to you, when you said the Republicans as your enemy, it was disheartening. I'm not asking you to retract it. What I'm asking you is when you are president, would you please extend the olive branch and lead us because we're all Americans.

CLINTON: What I have found in my 20-plus years of experience in this arena is that when I'm in office, I have great relations with Republicans. They say wonderful things about me. When I'm running for office, it's a little different. And I get that. I understand that.

[10:10:05] But you can rest assured at the base of political action, a relationship is just like anything else in life. I will do whatever I can to find that common ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So you can tell a very fine line there between a partisan fighter and trying to end the gridlock in Washington. But I was struck by that. We have never heard Hillary Clinton say when she's in office Republicans like her, when she's running for office, Republicans don't. And there is some truth to that. When she's on the Senate, she certainly had good relationships across the aisle with John McCain, with Lindsey Graham. The question of course is, is that possible in the White House in this very, very divided capital city of Washington -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Jeff Zeleny reporting live from Derry, New Hampshire. And I'm sorry, people of Derry, that I called it Derby. I don't know why I did that. Derry, New Hampshire. Thanks, Jeff Zeleny.

For the latest in politics and all the presidential contenders, head over to CNNPolitics.com.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, some of the questions are finally being answered in the death of a 6-year-old boy. What CNN has learned about an incident that sparked a deadly police chase.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:15:35] COSTELLO: Leaving no stone unturned, a Louisiana district attorney is vowing justice in a detailed investigation following the police shooting death of 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis. A judge setting bond yesterday at $1 million for the two officers now facing murder charges. This as new details emerge about what led them to chase the boy's father in the first place.

Nick Valencia is in Marksville with more on that. Good morning.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Early on we were told in the investigation that perhaps an argument, a verbal argument at a bar led to deputy marshals chasing down Chris Few. Now we're told by a source close to the investigation there was actually a domestic incident between Chris Few and his girlfriend that led deputy marshals to pursue his car in the first place.

That has not stopped the theories here from swirling in this small community of 5,000 where everyone seems to have a reputation and everyone is tied to each other. In fact the district attorney has recused himself from the case because the assistant district attorney here is the father of one of the suspects.

Throughout the days that we've been here, many residents have come up to us independently to tell us of unfavorable negative encounters that they've had with these two deputies that have been charged in this 6- year-old's death. Even the mayor, when I spoke to him, said that he has had a run-in with one of those deputies, thrown in jail, arrested, based on what he says were false accusations and it's been since then that he's been trying to get one of these deputies thrown off the police force without any luck. He told me that flat out this city has a corruption problem and much of that has to do with the city's police department.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: There's a lot of allegations of corruption in this city, Mayor. Is this city corrupt?

JOHN LEMONE, MAYOR OF MARKSVILLE, LOUISIANA: It depends on the way you look at it. I think to an extent it is and there are some things that need to be taken care of and there are some things that need to be looked at very seriously.

VALENCIA: How do you address that as the mayor? I mean, even the mayor of this city is saying that there's potential corruption in this city.

LEMONE: I plan on meeting with the colonel from the state troopers and to get and sit with us, with the police department and see how we can iron things out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: We don't expect to get much more information from investigators here. Much of that has to do with the gag order that was signed yesterday by the judge so everyone involved in this case perhaps even witnesses will be subject to that gag order. Meanwhile, overnight, those two inmates, those officers, charged in the murder of this 6-year-old have been moved about 40 miles away for security reasons -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Nick Valencia reporting live from Louisiana this morning.

More threats of student demonstrations and faculty walkout this morning on the Mizzou campus. The university's president resigned yesterday amid a growing controversy over racial tension on campus. The protesters say their fight is far from over.

CNN's Stephanie Elam joins me live now from the Mizzou campus with more.

Good morning, Stephanie.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. This is, perhaps, something you could count in the win column for the student activists but when you talk to students here, they say that the work that needs to be done here is far from over. Yes, they were calling for the head of the university system, the president, to step down. Not just of this school, but of the system. There's four schools within that. And that is exactly what Tim Wolfe did. And then we heard that the chancellor is also going to transition into a new position come January 1st.

But when you talk to students on the campus, they do say that there is a feeling that things still need to change. Obviously if the idea here is institutional racism, it doesn't go away just by getting rid of two figure heads. Obviously, they're saying that there is a lot that needs to be done with how the students are interacting with other students coming from different backgrounds and how they can integrate that into what they're learning here and they take away from them -- from this campus here with them when they go out into the real world -- Carol.

COSTELLO: What about the football team? Will they continue their strike?

ELAM: Well, the football team is back in action. We also know that that was a huge part of why things changed so quickly here. You've got the student activists. And if you look behind me, you can see that there are tents because we understand that there are still some students who have been sleeping in these tents overnight. They were doing their part but they really did get a big assist from the football team which who took a stand, saying that they agree with the students, that there are problems on campus and they need to be addressed.

Keep in mind, this is a -- a majority white university here. But the fact that the football team took this stance, and not only did they do that, but they had the support of their head coach, who stood behind them. Listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY PINKEL, HEAD FOOTBALL COACH: I just know my players were suffering and they felt awful. And again, I'm like their dad, you know, and I'm going to help them in any way I can.

[10:20:06] They asked me if I would support them. And I said I would. I didn't look at consequences. That wasn't about it at the time. It was about helping my players and supporting my players when they needed me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: And when you take a look at Mizzou football, obviously from people who have never been to Columbia, Missouri, more than likely you're familiar with the school because of their football program. So their stance having a big play in this. And also, if they did not play in this game coming up this weekend, I believe against BYU, they would have faced a $1 million fine, Carol. And ultimately that was in no way going to help the University of Missouri System.

COSTELLO: Yes. Stephanie Elam, reporting live from Columbia, Missouri, this morning.

Mizzou isn't the only college seeing students rally against growing racial tensions.

Hundreds of Yale students gathered Monday to call for an end to discrimination on their campus. The March of Resilience was intended to bring the community and students of all backgrounds together.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, you've heard the phrase, if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. My next guest says Ben Carson should take a hit when it comes to his attacks on the media.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:25:31] COSTELLO: This morning a city marred by violence is remembering a young victim of gang brutality. In a matter of hours, funeral services will be held for Tyshawn Lee. Police say the 9-year- old was lured into a Chicago alley and shot to death in a gang attack.

Ryan Young is outside the church where the service will be held this morning. Good morning, Ryan.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. It's a tough thing to hear when you hear it over and over again about this 9-year- old who was killed, lured into an alley. I want to step out of the way here because if you look behind me the casket has just arrived. This has really taken the city by storm in terms of the shock over this. I mean, people really want to know what's going on in the community when you have a 9-year-old that gets lured into an alley and shot several times. Police believe he was the intended target.

They do believe gang violence is involved. And in fact, they're asking the community for help to try to solve this crime. Police do say they're making great leads in this but obviously let's deal with the fact of this, the shock. A 9-year-old boy whose life has ended. We're standing outside a funeral service. His family under guard by the police department. They were brought here by several police officers.

So you see this going on right now live. And obviously, you can imagine the shock in the community that a 9-year-old would be targeted. We've heard so many times over and over, people say, well, where does it stop when a 9-year-old is the one who gets targeted for a violent crime like this? And of course the family arriving here in the last five minutes, Carol. We were expecting a larger crowd from this. Not sure if more people will arrive shortly.

But you can see all the people that have showed up and are standing on the side. They used a motorcycle to bring the young man's body here. What we do know there's a $51,000 reward in connection with trying to solve this crime with tips that police hope that someone will call in and give them some information about this young man.

I want to show you his picture, though. This is the young man right here that we're talking about. A 9-year-old, who was brought into an alley and shot several times. In fact, family members put a basketball inside his casket just the other day because he loved basketball. And this is something that's really struck everyone in their hearts in the city because, obviously, they want to know, where does the violence stop? And since he's been killed, we've already had a 14-year-old killed as well in this city since then. So you can understand why people are just so upset. It's even hard to talk about the family, being outside a 9-year-old's funeral who was shot and killed due to gang violence.

COSTELLO: And police have absolutely no suspects because initially they thought maybe the boy's father was involved in some way? Have they stepped away from that claim?

YOUNG: Well, Carol, it's good you bring that up. In fact, police believe the father is involved in gang activity and some of this could be stringing back to August. Several crimes that have happened and maybe someone is trying to get back at the father. We do know now, some people have been giving leads to police. They do believe they're closer to maybe arresting a suspect. They did bring a person of interest in the other day. That person was released. But they do believe some tips have come in that may lead to an arrest.

But you know how these cases work, especially with all the gang violence that's here in this city. There's a culture of not talking to the police. So they're working against all that. When you have the superintendent of Chicago stand up and say this is the worst crime in his 35-year career, you can understand how this violence is marking a lot of people. 9-year-old taken into an alley and shot several times, apparently in the face and the back. So obviously he was the target.

And you see the family members here. You see people standing up here under police guard at this point. It just kind of strikes you with all the things that people are dealing with in this community. Hearing from several parents who say they are now scared for their children to play outside, for them to walk to school. These are things that everybody can identify with.

COSTELLO: All right. Ryan Young reporting live from Chicago this morning.

And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

When the Republican presidential hopefuls gather in Milwaukee, the economy will be the -- it'll be the top topic of discussion. But if past debates are any indications, the media will also be a hot topic from Donald Trump's fight with FOX to Marco Rubio calling the press, quote, "the ultimate Democrat super PAC," to Ben Carson ripping reporters for raising question about his past, the media has taken it on the chin.

But for Carson, the fight has been a lucrative one. He claims he's raised $3.5 million, thanks to the scrutiny from what he says is a biased media. And just this morning Carson asked his supporters for even more money, saying the press is going off the rails.

But my next guest says, when you run for president, you don't get a break. That's how a democracy works. David Zurawik is the media critic for the "Baltimore Sun." He joins me now.

Good morning.